persian traditional music

8/6/2019 Persian Traditional Music

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Persian Traditional Music

Archeological evidence reveals musical instruments thatwere used in Iran during the Elamite era around

800BCE. Not much is known about Persian music in the

ancient world, especially about the music of the

Achaemenid Empire. Alexander the Great is said to

have witnessed many melodies and instruments upon

his invasion, and music played an important role in

religious affairs. Music played an important role in the

courts of Sassanid kings in the much later Sassanid

Empire. Of this period, we know the names of various

court musicians like Barbad and the types of various

instruments that were used like harps, lutes, flutes,

bagpipes and others. Under Sassanid rule, modal music

was developed by a highly significant court musician,

Barbad, called the khosravani. While today's classical

music tradition in Iran bears the same names of some of

the modes of that era it is impossible to know if theysound the same because there is no evidence of

musical notation from the Sassanid period. Today's

traditional Persian music began to develop after the


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advent f I lam in I an, in t e edieval eraand t e

reati n f t day's f rmal, lassi al musi traditi n is

directly linked t t emusicsystems f t e Safavid

Dynasty. ndert e laterQajarDynasty, t eclassical

system asrestructured int its resent f rm.

Aspects

Iranianclassical musicrelies n improvisationand

compositionand is asedonaseriesofmodal scales

and tunes ichmust ememorized. Apprenticesand

masters, ostad, havea traditional relationship hichhas


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A typical

performanceconsistsof the following

elementspshdar mad(arhythmicpreludewhichsets

themood), darmad(rhythmic free

motif), vz(improvisedrhythmic-free

singing), tanf(rhythmicaccompanied ysinging, an

ode), Chahrmerb(rhythmicmusic ut rhythmic-free

ornosinging), reng(closingrhythmiccomposition, adance tune). A performance formsasort ofsuite.

nconventionally, thesepartsmay evariedoromitted.

owards theendof theSafavid Empire(1502-1736),


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more complex movements in 10, 14, and 16 beats

stopped being performed. In fact, in the early stages of

the ajar ynasty, the ul(rhythmic cycles) were

replaced by a meter based on the ghazaland

the maqm system of classification was reconstructed

into the Radifsystem which is used to this day

(see Dast'gh). Today, rhythmic pieces are performed in

beats of 2 to 7 with some exceptions. Rengs are always

in a 6/8 time frame. Many melodies and modes are

related to the maqmt of the Turkish classical

repertoire and Arabic music belonging to various Arab

countries, for example Iraq. This similarity is because of

the exchange of musical science that took place in the

early Islamic world between Persia and her neighboringcountries. uring the meeting ofThe Inter-governmental

Committee forthe Safeguardingofthe Intangible

Heritage of the United Nations, held between 28

September 2 October 2009 in Abu habi, radifs were

officially registered on the UNESCOList of the IntangibleCultural Heritage of Humanity.

The classical music is vocal based. The vocalist plays a

crucial role: she or he decides what mood to express


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and which dastgah relates to that mood. In many cases,

the vocalist is also responsible for choosing the poems

to be sung. If the performance requires a singer, the

singer is accompanied by at least one wind or string

instrument, and at least one type ofpercussion. There

could be an ensemble of instruments, though the

primary vocalist must maintain hers or his role. In

some tanfsongs, the musicians may accompany the

singer by singing along several verses. Traditionally,

music is performed while seated on finely decorated

cushions and rugs. Candles are sometimes lit. The

group of musicians and the vocalist decide on which

dastgahs and which of their gushehs to perform,

depending on the mood of a certain time or situation.

Iranian classical music continues to function as a

spiritual tool as it has throughout its history, and much

less of a recreational activity.Compositions can vary

immensely from start to finish, usually alternating

between low, contemplative pieces and athletic displaysof musicianship called tahrir. The incorporation of

religious texts as lyrics were replaced by lyrics largely


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Instrumentsused in Persianclassical music include the

owedspike-fiddlekamancheh, thegoblet drum tombak,

theend-blown fluteney, the framedrumdaf, the long-

necked lutes tar, setar, tanbur, dotar, and the

dulcimersantur. he Europeanviolin isalsoused, with

analternative tuningpreferredby Persian

musicians. arps, chang[s], wereavery important part

ofmusicupuntil themiddleof the Safavid Empire.

heywereprobablyreplacedbecauseof tuning

problemsorreplacedby the Qanun(zither)and later the

pianowhichwas introducedby the est during the

Safavid Dynastyof Iran. any, ifnot most, of these

instrumentsoriginated in Iran. Perhaps themost loved

string instrument is thetar. arplayersareregurlarly

chosen to functionas theprimarystring instrument ina

performance. hesetar isalso loved for itsdelicacyand

is the favoriteamong ysticmusicians. Some


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instruments like the sorna, neyanban, dohol, naghareh,

and others, are not used in the classical repertoire but

are used in Iranian Folk music. The gha hak

(ghaychak), a type of fiddle, is being re-introduced to the

Classical field after many years of exclusion. The

instruments used in the Classical field are also used in

Iranian Folk Music.

The reference is Ghonyat-al-Monyah an aged old

manuscript translated and published by the Late Prof.

ShahabSarmadi of AMU Aligarh India. This book

describes in detail the history of Persian musical

instruments.

Here is an example of where the links are: Prof.

ShahbSarmad of Aligarh Muslim University, due to his

specific expertise in Persian and Indian Classical Music,

translated a section called Roots and Branches of

Music, which is a part of Volume II. When he was in

Chicago for the 1987 conference he graciously agreed

to stay over for a month and translated this chapter on

music. This translation exposes AmrKhusraus

expertise in music although he seems to attempt to

avoid any credit to himself. The special feature of this


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translation is AmrKhusraus description of a Pardah

System, without mentioning the invention of sitar as an

instrument. In the sitar design there are 12-13 mi rb, a

typical form of plectrum made of steel wire played with a

am ama held in one hand that strikes against mi rb in

a pattern creating a system of music. This system of

music makes unlimited Pardah System by placing the

12-13 plectrums in various positions, thus exposing

numerous potentialities. AmrKhusraus ingenious

definition of the Pardah System described in this section

of Volume II, and equally ingenious effort by Prof.

ShahbSarmad in catching these in his translation

enumerates value of this work. This Pardah System of

music may have been easily transformed into the designof mi rb and am ama in sitar, when played together

creating a Pardah System of music, thus providing a

proof of AmrKhusraus invention of sitar. It is

reasonable to imagine that, because of his

Turkish/Lachin (in the following introduction to Ij -i-Khusrav he calls himself Khusrau-Lachin) heritage,

AmrKhusrau may have been exposed to the Maqam

System of Muslim Music, merging with the Sanstn


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Preservation

The Persian Constitutional Revolution in 1906 allowed

some release from previous religious restrictions withregards to music. As a result, genres such

as pop and rock started to become popular. This

popularity was critici ed by traditionalists who felt that

traditional music was becoming endangered. In

1968, DariushSafvat and Nur-Ali Borumand helped formthe Center for Preservation and Propagation of Iranian

Music with the help of Re a Ghotbi, director of NIRT

(National Iranian Radio-Television), an act credited with

saving traditional music in the 1970s by other

ethnomusicologists, including Nelly Caron, Tran Van

Khe, and Hormo Farhat.


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